Capone

5. Capone

5

capone

My fist crushed into the side of this little nigga’s face. The minute he moved, I threw another punch, cracking his jaw. He howled in pain as I punched his ass one more time.

He was sitting in the chair with his hands tied behind his back, wiggling, and howling in pain. From the way his nose was sitting, I already knew I had broken that shit in at least three places. When I backed away, everyone in the room looked at him with pain and pity in their eyes.

“Let that shit be a fucking lesson. You pull your fucking gun out when someone is coming at you, not for a fucking dice game.” I kicked the chair over, and he whimpered.

Here I was chilling with my future wife and then gun shots rang out. What pissed me off the most was that my baby didn’t even get the chance to eat her food. She tossed that shit on the floor as she dove onto the floor.

“Here you go, Capo.” One of the other little niggas brought me the gun that this dumb ass used.

It was a calm barbecue where everyone was enjoying themselves. So many people went running soon as the shots rang out. What made it worse was this nigga goes and pulls his gun out again and decides to let more shots out because he lost money.

“That’s the problem with you little niggas. Nobody uses their hands anymore. Soon as something pops off you ready to pull your gun instead of fighting. That nigga took your money fair and square, and you shot him… so I'm gonna make a deal with you. If he lives, then you get to live. Let him die, and nigga, I will personally deliver a black Versace dress to your fat ass mama.”

His eyes grew wider when I mentioned his mother. “Yo, Capone… I got her home.” Naheim walked into the warehouse and tossed his keys on the wooden table. “Damn.” He grimaced when he looked at the asshole on the floor.

“Appreciate it.”

I could tell there was something more to what Naheim was saying with Erin. From the way he looked at me and her when he first came into the backyard, that wasn’t some chick you grew up with.

Naheim was considered family. He was married to my baby sister, and from what I witnessed he treated her like gold. The moment that shit changed I promised I had a bullet with his damn name on it. Capri was my world, my heart, and I would break necks to make sure I protected her.

“The fuck gonna happen with this one?” He kicked his legs as he stepped over him.

“Depends on what happens with homeboy. Not only did you shoot him, but you shot one of fucking Trilla’s right hands. Do you know the beef we will have with that black fat muthafucka when he finds out?”

I paced with the gun in my hand, wanting to desperately air this whole warehouse out. How the fuck could he have been so stupid tonight? I’ve killed niggas for less, and he goes and decides to let his gun off in the middle of a block because of a game.

Pow! Pow!

“Arghhhhhhh!” he screamed out when I shot him in the leg.

“Yo, Capone… chill.” Naheim took the gun from me.

“Why the fuck should I care about his leg? He pulled his gun out and there were fucking kids and women around.”

I didn’t know Erin from a whole in the wall, but her reaction to the gunshots wasn’t the typical reaction. She froze for a brief second and I couldn’t read her face. It was like she was having an outer body experience. When she finally snapped back into reality, she held onto me like her life depended on it.

These new niggas didn’t live by the code. They were so busy trying to prove they were about the life, and they were far from it. Women and children were off limits to me. If I had beef with you, I took that shit up with you, not your woman and damn sure not your children.

The only times I handled a woman was when I was fucking her, or she inserted herself into men’s business.

Naheim took a seat on the empty chair while the rest of these niggas looked on in horror. I don’t know why they were shocked to see how I got down. Mainly because I never said much, and I was barely around. I left all this for Naheim to handle.

Had this happened and I wasn’t at the party, I would have allowed Naheim to handle this on his own. This was personal because he did that shit in my presence. What pissed me off was that he started shooting because he lost a fair game.

“Let this shit be a lesson for all you big headed bitches. Pull a gun out for your own personal gain and I will personally put a hole in your head. This shit is for protection not to terrorize the fucking block.”

“We hear you, Capone,” I heard them all say, as I brushed past them to head out the warehouse.

Backyard hood parties weren’t even my scene. When I was first coming up, I would go and chill with everybody. I wasn’t coming up anymore and I had more enemies so attending shit like this was a rare occurrence.

The only reason I popped out tonight was because of Naheim. It was his cousin’s birthday, so he came to hand him some bread and chill for a minute. I didn’t expect to run into Erin when I went to the back to get some food. Hearing that nigga talking to her like he had lost his mind had me about to lose my shit.

I had half the mind to break my own rule and put the barrel of my gun to his temple with the way he was trying to exchange sex for a plate of food. Had I not been calmer these days, he probably would have been sucking on the barrel of my gun while continuing to man the grill.

“Yo, Capo!” Naheim called behind me.

I had been up all night trying to find this little nigga. He knew he fucked up and tried to run. It was only a matter of time before we caught him, and like I knew it, they did.

They brought him kicking and screaming to me so I could handle him. I wasn’t into doing the dirty work anymore because that shit was exhausting.I made an exception tonight.

“What up?”

“The fuck you want me to do with his ass?”

“I don’t give a fuck. All I know is if that little nigga don’t make it, I want you to handle his ass.”

“Got you.”

“For now, call Dr. Ramos to come and patch his stupid ass up.”

“Bet.”

I was too tired to press him about the Erin situation. When I saw her outside the store that day, I couldn’t get my mind off her. The way she was fully prepared to take down that little nigga with no fear in her eyes or heart, I was intrigued.

Then to add to the fact that I had never seen a bus driver as fine as her.

A woman like her didn’t come around often. It was boring when you could have any woman you wanted. Where was the chase or the thrill? Erin could have stayed clutched to my side the entire night, but she didn’t. The first moment she got, she took off running in the opposite direction. Even when Naheim called her behind her, she was still gone.

Had that been any other woman they wouldn’t have let me out of her sight. Even with gun shots and chaos going on, they would have stayed glued to me and expected me to take them home.

Not Erin.

She was ghost like a fever dream. Everything happened so fast that I never got the chance to really talk and see where her mental was at. I knew from our brief encounter that I wanted another chance more than I wanted a lot of things.

At twenty, I watched my twin be handed down a fifteen-year sentence. Cappadonna didn’t even blink or show any emotion when they read off his sentence. He refused to talk on who the guns belonged to or give the detectives who they really wanted. It was more about who Capp was running for than the guns. He could have gotten three and a half years, but they decided to hand down a harsher sentence giving him the maximum.

The shit was unfair, and I think a piece of me died when my brother was sent to prison. My parents were in the courtroom in tears watching one of their sons be hauled away.It wasn’t forever, but it damn sure felt like it was.

Whenever I thought about it the shit broke my heart. He was being tossed in a cage for the next fifteen years of his life when the gun belonged to me. It was my gun and I had stupidly left the shit in his whip when I used it the night before. Capp could have given me up and done no time, but we weren’t built like that. Since the day we came out the womb we had been tied at the hip.

I would give my life for his without hesitation. Capp would do the same for me. We were raised to believe that nobody had your back like your siblings and that was true. Nobody had me like my brother and sister. Even with him being on the inside, Cappadonna always had my back.

Overnight we had went from two brothers hustling to make ends meet for our family to just me having to find a way for us. My parents worked hard as fuck and could never rub two pennies together. It was never enough growing up and I was tired of that shit. Tired of always going to bed hungry, and watching my parents worn down because they were working ridiculous hours.

My parents were both immigrants from Barbados and came to America for a better life. It was funny how America always advertised themselves as being the place to achieve wealth and have that better life. Nobody ever spoke about how hard it was for immigrants to find their way here. My father was a cab driver while my mother worked at the laundromat on our street. Every morning, I saw my father grab his wallet to head out to work all day. Some nights we didn’t see him until the next morning because he worked so late.

Growing up I watched my parents go without in order to give me and my siblings a better life. Capri was still young, so she never remembered the struggle. Providing for our parents really became a priority when my father broke his foot one winter. He couldn’t afford to sit down and heal. He wrapped that bitch up and was back to work the next day.

That shit broke my heart seeing how much pain he was in when he came home every night. My mother would unwrap his foot, soak it in Epsom salt and then rewrap it while warming his plate up. The one thing I admired about my parents was how much they loved one another. No matter how hard life was, they never lost the love they had for one another. Like my mother took care of my father, he did the same for her.They were a team and always had each other’s back no matter what life tossed their way.

Cappadonna was five minutes older than me and always reminded my ass. When he started hustling with Trilla, the hustla from our neighborhood, I knew I needed to step up, too. There was no way I was leaving my brother to provide for our family alone.

When we were on the block, I had his front, and he had my back. We went from standing on that corner to working with Trilla himself. We became his right hands, and because of that we were touching more money than we had ever touched in our life. At first it was easy to lie to my parents because we weren’t making that much money. The more money we made the harder it became to lie to them about where the money was coming from. When my mother opened up one of my duffle bags and saw money, guns, and drugs, she damn near passed out. She wanted us to give up everything and to stop living the wrong way.

She had faith that God would provide. No offense to the man above, I had lost faith in him a long time ago. I was tired of watching us work ten times harder and getting nowhere. Not reaping the rewards of our hard work. So, it was time to level out the playing field and that’s exactly what me and Capp did.

Slowly, but surely, she allowed us to help our family. She went from spending all day at the laundromat to only going for a couple hours. My father was able to cut back his crazy hours. How could we not want more? The main goal was to move them out the hood, so they never had to work again.

Trilla did take us under his wing and showed us the way. I appreciated him for putting us on the way he had. While Trilla was content with playing it small, I’ve never been the type of nigga that could ever be comfortable playing anything small. I’ve always wanted more, and being his right hand wasn’t a forever situation.

With Capp locked up and Trilla not giving a fuck, I knew time was limited with him. Loyalty was everything to me and the fact that this nigga didn’t care to put some money down on a lawyer spoke volumes with me.

It showed me that we were replaceable to him, and unless we were doing something for him, he could give a fuck what happened to us. Even with us scrapping together the money we had for Capp’s lawyer, we still lost, and he was handed fifteen years.

Trilla had always been satisfied with having a piece of the pie while I wanted the whole fucking pie. There was no room for sharing when it came to me. I was taking everything that me and my brother was supposed to take together. I’ve always been one to look deeper into shit and study things that others wouldn’t pay any attention to. While the niggas I was running with were happy for the little bit of change to front of the chicks with, I was studying how Trilla got to the position that he did.

He was running shit from other states and bringing it here using different trucking companies. It was a gamble if you ask me, I wouldn’t have had that much trust in a random ass trucking company. Something was always going wrong, and shipments would come up missing. Whenever that happened, he spent more money trying to recover from a fuck up like that. It happened way too often for my liking. I told him more than a few times that he needed to invest in his own trucking company. Where he was the one in control. He controlled dispatch and had his hands more involved. Like the fat bitch he was, he pushed it off and told me to stay in my lane. I could see why he didn’t want to listen to a little nigga like me. I didn’t have salt in the game, and this was real life and money.

One mistake could cost you your life and empire. Trill felt like I should have been appreciative that he offered me a seat at his table. My favorite thing was when somebody underestimated me. I loved that shit because I was going to make it a lesson for whoever underestimated me. Being honest, that shit made me a better man because then I was ready to show the person why they should have believed in me.

Without asking my brother, I took me and Capp’s money and bought an eighteen-wheeler. A few months later I bought three more. Until I had about a fleet of trucks. I formed a trucking business into a corporation and made that shit legal.

When Trilla got busted in Miami, he knew he was going to do some time. He expected me to go ahead and run shit while he was gone. He had me fucked up if he thought I was about to hire him a lawyer and make sure everything ran smoothly. Where was that energy when my brother needed him? He wasn’t trying to help, so because of that my brother was rotting away in prison.

I already let my family down by allowing my brother to take the fall for my mistake. I would be damned if he came home, and we were still on the corner trying to make something shake. Trilla was satisfied with the praises from the little niggas on the corner.

I wanted more.

I required more.

Where we both differed is that while he was worried about the praise, I wanted the money. While he was cool playing the blocks, I wanted the nation.

He could have the block, I could take over blocks in every state in America, and I did. My trucking company was one of the most successful trucking businesses and we managed to move more weight undetected. Del Go’s trucking company was successful because I was smart.I played big and because of it my family was eating. They never wanted for anything because it was already handled.

The rule of the game was to get in and get out with more than you came in with. I wasn’t trying to hug the corner forever, and I damn sure wasn’t trying to have my parents bury or watch me go to prison, too.

Legally, me and Capp were fucking millionaires from the trucking business. Under the table, we were billionaires and had touched more money than I ever thought we would.

The goal was to always be legal, and I had made that shit happen while staying under the radar.

When Trilla was released off good behavior, he had to start from the ground up. I knew he held some animosity toward me because he felt like I was supposed to sit and hold him down. Had he listened to me and wanted to play big like I advised, maybe I would have. I could have done him dirty by working his connect and I didn’t. Like I said, loyalty was everything to me so I would never go against him and do him dirty that way.

My pops took me to Barbados to meet a cousin I had never met. Although he wanted to pretend he was just bringing me to meet a cousin, I already knew my pops and the reason he brought me there to me that cousin.

This cousin happened to own acres of land that grew coca plants. So many coca plants that I didn’t need Trilla’s weak ass connect. Pure cocaine that made your jaw numb by one swipe on the gums. Despite not being happy with the path me and Capp found ourselves on, the smirk on my father’s face let me know that he was riding regardless.

He didn’t approve of the lifestyle that I chose to live but respected it. As a father did, he wanted to make sure he led me the right way and that was to family. Ever since that day, me and Keith was locked in.

Trilla couldn’t be mad because I did shit my own way without stepping on his operation, or lack thereof. There wasn’t any beef, I just didn’t see myself being somebody’s right hand forever.

I was meant to sit at the head of the table not to the side. Trill was concerned with only feeding himself. That was the reason his so-called team was still out here working ten times harder when they didn’t need to.

I gave my team everything. They never needed to worry about shit as long as they abided by that five-letter word. That beefing shit was for the broke and Trill’s team was very much broke.

We were here to make bread and enjoy life, not indulge in broke men activities. That was the reason that little nigga pissed me off so bad. Everybody eats. It was the motto I had always lived by and would always live by because I remember when I couldn’t.

The sound of my dick popping out of shorty’s mouth brought me back to the topic at hand. I held her head down as she continued to top me off with pleasure.

After losing my cool last night I needed a release and Ella was the perfect distraction. When I texted her, she was already on her porch waiting for me to come scoop her. I pulled her hair when I felt teeth and she tightened up, fixing her mistake.

When I felt all my nut rushing toward the tip, I held her head in place and emptied myself down her throat. She looked up pleased that she was able to pleasure me.

“What has you so stressed?” she sat up, putting her hair into a messy bun.

“Some stupid shit happened in the hood last night.”

“When doesn’t something stupid go down in the hood? What I want to know is why you were out there anyway?”

I shrugged, not wanting to get too deep into the reason I had gone. “Was bored… followed behind Naheim.”

“Hmph.”

“What now, Ella?” I groaned, knowing she was about to start her bullshit with me.

When we were good, we were so good that she had me considering marrying her. It was the bad that made me wish that we never crossed that line with our friendship. Ella’s temper was out of control and something that I hated.

I used to think that jealous shit was sexy when we were younger. Eventually you became older and the shit that used to be attractive wasn’t anymore because you grew. Ella never lost that temper or that jealousy and we hadn’t been together in years.

The only reason she got away with that shit was because we had history. Ella wasn’t some chick that I fucked with from time to time. She was my best friend and the mother to our son.

Our relationship ended quicker than it started, and I still asked myself why the fuck did we do it? Ella had been down with me from the start, my confidant, the person I could trust with my life. Loyalty was just as important to her.

We had been through so much before we decided to cross that line within our friendship. She reminded me so much of my mother with how resilient she was, and how she would ride for her family no matter what. It didn’t matter what came our way, she held me down and never switched up. You would never hear her utter a bad word about me. She was the best mother to my seed, and for that I would always take care of her. She never had to ask twice because it was usually done before the words left her mouth.

“How long are we going to keep doing this secret shit? I come over here whenever you’re stressed, but you sidestep any conversation of us getting back together.”

“Ain’t shit I do a secret and we’re not getting back together.” I stood up with my dick swinging. Her eyes landed on my dick as she licked her lips, as if she didn’t have enough.

Sex was always good between us. We almost always put our differences aside and worked them out in the bed. I didn’t fuck around with many bitches because I had trust issues. I may have allowed one or six of them to suck my dick, but that was as far as it went.

Those bitches never made it to my crib, and I always left the hotel room right after they fell asleep. A man’s biggest downfall is always going to be a woman, and I could never let that shit happen to me.

You’ll never seen me on the news in a body bag because I allowed a bitch to set me up. If I fell asleep, you were gonna be right next to me with my hand around your neck so I would feel if you moved even an inch.

“We’ve been doing so good together,” she whined.

“Capone Jr. is our main concern. We don’t need to go confusing shit for him by getting together. He’s old enough to notice shit, El.”

“He’s also old enough to know he wants his parents together.”

Capone Jr. was six years old and didn’t give a fuck about us being together. I was very involved in my son’s life and had deep conversations with him all the time. Well, as deep as you can get with a six-year-old. Me and Ella had been broken up since he was two and I don’t think he ever noticed a difference. I came over every week for dinner and to help Capone Jr. with his homework, and we still went on vacation for his spring and summer breaks.

It was important for me and Ella to have a good relationship because that shit trickled down onto our son. I didn’t want to raise an emotionally fucked up kid. Not if I could help it, and I made sure I was there. It didn’t matter what I had going on, I would always make time to see my son and spend time with him.

Capone Jr. attended a prestigious private school, lived in the best neighborhood, and did whatever hobbies his heart desired. I never denied my son anything that he wanted to do. If he wanted to learn how to juggle, then I was going to hire the best damn clown to teach him how. When I had my son, he forced me to go harder because I never wanted him to know what struggle meant. I was never going to be that parent that reminded my kid how good they had it every chance I got.

“Ella it’s too damn early for this shit,” I walked into the bathroom with her trailing behind me.

It was hard to stay focused when she was standing in front of me looking this damn good. Her thick thighs were on full display with a perfectly waxed pussy. Her breast wasn’t as perky as when we first met, but she had carried and nursed my son with those same breast.

They were perfect to me.

Her body was far from the skinny chick I met when we were younger. She had given birth twice, and her body reflected that. Her stomach housed warrior marks and she had finally received her grown woman hips.

“It’s always too early or too late for us to discuss things that are important with our family.”

“Don’t play that card,” I warned as I turned on the shower.

“What card?”

“The family card. You know that’s the only card that means anything to me, so you play it to your advantage.”

“That is the only way that I am ever able to get through to you.” She came over and rubbed my chest.

“El, come on now. I got to handle some business.”

“It’s always some business you have to handle. You promised when our son turned six that we could try for another baby.”

I hated to look down in her eyes and tell her no. It had been two years since we lost our daughter. I’d never forget having to watch Ella push out our stillborn daughter. The emotions in that room would always tug at my heart whenever I thought about it.

My kids were never a mistake. Our daughter, Naomi, however, was a slip up. Neither of us were trying for a baby, just having fun and she popped up pregnant. We both knew what came with having another baby and fully accepted the responsibility. When it came to co-parenting with our son, we did it so well. We never allowed our personal shit to get in the middle of our parenting. I was excited to be having another seed with Ella.

After the loss of our daughter, Ella wanted to try again. I think she just wanted to do it so she could stop the pain. As much as I wanted to give her another baby, I knew that wasn’t the solution to our situation. We were both grieving the death of our daughter. I put her in therapy. For a year she had lost herself and I was there to pick up the pieces when it came to raising our son.

He lived with me while she got herself together. I loved Ella enough to allow her the space to grieve. As a father I was fucked up losing my daughter. Ella’s pain was different from any pain that I might have been feeling. I couldn’t imagine carrying a baby for nine months, feeling her kick, bonding with her, and then have to push her out and she wasn’t alive. It broke my heart having to push her out the hospital and we weren’t leaving with our daughter. If Ella needed a ten year break from being a mother, I would gladly give her that.

Like the amazing mother she was, she could never stay away long. Even if she came over after our son went to sleep, she would climb into bed with him and hold him until the morning, then she would leave. I think those were the toughest times for us because I didn’t know how we would survive it.

“He just turned six, El.” I stepped into the shower while she stood there with her arms folded.

I knew I wasn’t getting out of here without giving her the conversation she had been desperate to have. “Don’t bullshit me, Capone. He’s about to turn seven soon. I’m not getting any younger, Capone. I really want to try again. It’s been…” her voice trailed off.

“You can’t even say her name without becoming choked up.” I pointed out while washing up.

“Just because I can’t say her name doesn’t mean I'm not ready for another child… that’s not fair.”

It wasn’t fair of me to deprive her of another child because I felt she wasn’t ready for one. “You right.”

She left the bathroom, allowing me to finish my shower in peace. I was torn on having another kid with Ella. Another kid meant more attachment and we already didn’t have good boundaries when it came to our personal lives.

At any time, I would pop up at her house and be in the bed waiting for her. That was probably why our son was so damn confused about our relationship. Ella had a key to my crib and would come over with Capone Jr. and cook. Some nights I came home, and they were already in my bed waiting on me.

We always sucked at having boundaries and I felt like we needed to have them. That was the reason she was on me to get back together. In some way, it felt like we had never broken up. We were both allowed to do whatever we wanted.

It wasn’t like I would be mad if Ella told me she met somebody tomorrow. I would respect her relationship like I prayed she would do mine when it came time for one.

“We can have this talk another time… I gotta bounce and catch a bus.” I said as I walked into the closet.

“A bus?” she stared at me confused.

“Yeah, some personal shit I need to handle.”

“Capone, if we don’t have a conversation soon, I promise this is done. You won’t be able to call me whenever you’re stressed.”

“Pops!” I heard Capone Jr. running down the hall toward my bedroom.

Whenever I picked Ella up, she usually had a nanny on standby. Since it was last minute, she packed her and Capone Jr. up to come over my crib. He was sleep and probably woke up confused when he woke up in his bedroom at my house.

“What’s good, C2?”

“Ain’t nothing but the sky,” he laughed when I picked him up and kissed him on the forehead.

Ella had put her robe on when she came back into the room. She looked on with so much admiration and love for the relationship I shared with my son. Capone Jr. was my heart, and I’d give my life to always make sure he was straight.

“Smooth ass nigga,” I smirked.

“Capone!” Ella scolded as I placed my son back onto the floor. “I told you about your language around him.”

“My bad. You think Mommy will make us some breakfast before I have to leave?”

C2 looked over at his mother with a similar smirk that I wore. “Will you, Mommy?”

Ella walked over toward our son and held his face in her hands. “You can have whatever you want, Pony.”

Only Ella called Capone Jr. Pony.

It was her little nickname for him. When we first met, she used to call me Pony, and now that name was reserved for my namesake.

Ella made us breakfast and we ate together as a family. After breakfast, I played C2 on his favorite video game before I dipped out to handle some very vital business.